When a brand falls out of favour, it can have pernicious effects.

Such is the case with COPE, which used to stand as such a beacon of hope to Vancouver progressives.

COPE is the acronym for the Coalition of Progressive Electors, which elected many well-known politicians over the decades, including Harry Rankin, Libby Davies, Jenny Kwan, and Pauline Weinstein. 

The political party has fallen on hard times, not electing a single candidate in 2014 and only one, school trustee Allan Wong, in 2011.

Wong jumped over to Vision Vancouver. He and four other former COPE 2011 candidates—Brent Granby, R.J. Aquino, Gwen Giesbrecht, and Jane Bouey—ran for different parties in 2014.

It was a sign of how low COPE had fallen. Well-known former COPE councillor Ellen Woodsworth didn't even bother seeking a nomination in 2014.

In recent years, COPE has become closely associated with Tim Louis, a Fidel Castro–admiring activist and former city councillor.

So imagine, for a moment, that you're long-time labour-movement executive David Black.

He's president of a union with a similar name: COPE Local 378.

Black's COPE is an acronym for the Canadian Office and Professional Employees union.

COPE Local 378, like other unions, is in the business of representing members and, on occasion, launching organizing drives.

But it's probably feeling hampered in one respect: it shares its name with that of a somewhat discredited political party on the left-wing fringe.

So what did COPE Local 378 do? It decided to create more distance between itself and COPE the political party in the public's mind.

On November 9, COPE Local 378 is going to call itself MoveUP, The Movement of United Professionals.

In a nifty rebranding exercise, the union maintained that the new name reflects "members' pride in their work and their commitment to making positive change in their communities".

"MoveUP is a modern organization uniting professionals for progress and prosperity," Black said in a news release.

COPE, on the other hand, is a beleaguered political party uniting low-income people to fight the influence of developers over Vision Vancouver.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, we can get back to writing more articles on Justin Trudeau.